Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume1 Phase2 (section)

===Part 15===

The battle was over.

It was all wasted effort. This was not a job from a client, so they would not be paid for it. They had only racked up an ammo bill and filled their muscles with lactic acid.

(But it’s over all the same. Or rather, we ended it.)

The power of central Light Castle Brightio’s Free Audience Restriction was absolute. Even that giant windmill had been ground up as if crushed until its structural integrity had been reduced enough for it to fall apart. The vibration had been frightening. The destruction had been just like the jackhammers used in gem mines to tear up the rock and extract pieces of the concentrated underground gemflows.

A chill ran down Ayato’s spine when he thought about placing a human body in the middle of that and that they had done that themselves. He chided himself for relying on his opponent’s toughness a little too much.

“Ah, wait, Ayato!?”

When he spotted the dark gray protector armor falling limply down, he moved that way. He gained nothing from this and might even come into contact with the Free Audience Restriction barrier that wavered like an aurora, but he still felt a need to reach out his hand here.

He sighed at his actions once he was holding that limp, unconscious figure in his arms.

“It’s because of things like this that I can’t stop worrying, dammit.”

“You say that, but you made sure to stab your sword in her armor’s joint to actually strengthen her defenses at the very end there.”

Ayato lightly cleared his throat at Dark Elf Mamilis’s comment.

A skilled student had its downsides.

Whatever they were going to do with this asphalt-colored knight, they had successfully shaken the knights protecting the city. Now they could focus on that sniper wielding Critical Disaster.

…However, they had completely lost the trail of that devil in red leather and the knights still existed as a group. None of this had paid off. It felt like they had charged full speed ahead into wasted effort.

Silver-haired Mamilis spoke up with some exasperation in her voice.

“Coach, I see you use a princess carry when saving your enemies too.”

“Hm? Is that what this is called???”

“Does that mean you do that without even thinking about it?”

At any rate…

“We’re free to act now, so let’s get out of here before the others catch up. We have to start back at square one with that sniper, but it really comes down to repeating what we already did.”

“So what exactly are we going to do?” asked Teleria.

“That enormous anti-dragon rifle is that woman’s greatest weapon but also her greatest flaw. She has to care for her aching body thanks to the ridiculous recoil of its giant bullets, so she had to rely on an outside supply no matter where she escapes to. It’s the same as hunting out on a great prairie. We follow each of the little tracks she leaves to search out where she sleeps.”

After all the excitement in Wind Castle Town Silphine, the alert would be raised here just like in Fire Castle Town Flared. They would have to move to a different area to lose pursuit.

Ayato’s group was of course the main dish for the knights, but the sniper had also ended up clashing with the knights, meaning the knights were aware of her presence. Her priority would be lower, but she would still want to avoid being surrounded here. That meant the red leather woman would likely try to escape to a different town as well.

“The fire town is still on alert, so returning there would be suicide. So would Water Castle Town Aquaria be next? Although having just one option makes it easier for the knights to predict too.”

Just as they were working out their plans, something else happened.

It disappeared.

What did?

Something that had been towering above them. The giant barrier that would repel unauthorized visitors even if they were divine or demonic and that had defeated Henrietta Split Destrius so spectacularly. It had suddenly vanished like a candle’s flame being blown out.

In other words…

“The barrier…the Light Castle’s Free Audience Restriction is gone!?”

The red leather sniper had captured Urban Design Manager Jorbe Alphoverin and would have gotten all of Celedileka’s vulnerabilities out of him. And she was planning something big using that.

Could this be it?

“The aurora-like barrier is created by borrowing the fire, water, wind, and earth powers of the four surrounding blocks, right? So if something went wrong with one of those, would the Free Audience Restriction lose its perfect balance and malfunction?”

“It isn’t that simple, Coach. My grandma said the king’s castle has several different layers of defense so an emergency facility immediately kicks in to power the barrier if the supply of the four elements is cut off. She sounded a little sad that none of her sorcery devices were needed to protect the castle!”

After hearing those two give their opinions, Ayato thought to himself while holding the Striker in dark gray protector armor.

Then that Sorcery Hacker spoke of a certain possibility.

“Then what about the moment between the normal power going out and the emergency power kicking in?”

“Eh?”

“The Free Audience Restriction might waver during the switch.”

With an electric buzz, the aurora-like barrier went back up.

This was probably the emergency power that Mamilis had mentioned, but that was meaningless if something had made it in during that brief downtime.

And with the impenetrable Free Audience Restriction back up, Ayato’s group could not pursue that “something”.

“Was this what the sniper was after?”